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The Five Best Places for Karaoke in St. Louis

Selecting Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis 2012 wasn't easy. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this RFT Music series, we're beeboping and scattin' our way through notable runners up in a number of categories. This week: The best karaoke bars ... More >>

American Idiots: Michael Bay injects potentabsurdity into the unbelievable true story of Pain & Gain

Brillz Talks New Album and Twitter Fighting with Azelia Banks: "She Did it to Herself"

Emerging from Los Angeles' deep talent pool of producers, Brillz (LA slang for brilliant) has been on a tear lately, with a number of releases. Originally a dancer, he transitioned to instead making music that everyone can dance to. We caught up with Brillz during a short break from the studio to di ... More >>

"Strip Club Ready": Why You Should Follow the Rams' Janoris Jenkins on Instagram

What do you do after the St. Louis Rams name you the team's "rookie of the year"? If you're cornerback Janoris Jenkins, you apparently head back to your home state of Florida and let your freak flag fly on the Internet. Jenkins (or his clone) is all over Instagram these days, posting images under ... More >>

Quitting Your Job At 35 to Join A Band: Best or Worst Idea Ever?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

Why You Should Care about Man City vs. Chelsea F.C. at Busch Stadium

Lately, the Premiership, or the Barclay's Premier League, or just the Premier League, has been called the world's "top league" -- mostly by players coming into the British league from France, Germany, Spain and yes, the United States. That's because in the twenty-team Premier League, play is faster, ... More >>

The Crucial Mistake Most Bands Are Making With Facebook

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

Bunnygrunt's Twentieth Anniversary Show: Review and Photos

In case you forgot: I gave myself the brain-crushing mission to make a show diary for every weekend in March. This is the third installment in my four-part project. Like the rest of us, my party time was cut short this weekend by twelve inches of snow. I'll have to cover JC Brooks and the Uptown So ... More >>

Team Kerouac: Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund chat about the film version of On the Road

Gut Check (Finally) Meets Up With Andrew Zimmern in St. Louis

While he was in town last week filming Bizarre Foods America, Andrew Zimmern snuck away from his security detail long enough to converse, securely, with Gut Check about his time in St. Louis. "St. Louis has been around now for two years on our idea board," says Zimmern of the process of creating an ... More >>

SXSW 2013: Critically Important Questions Raised By This Year's Event

Editor: We have so many questions here in Austin. Here are 50 of them. 1. Will I like the pedicab costumed as The Hulk if he gets angry? 2. Are we all really just in New York? 3. Is this t-shirt rad? 4. Do you want to get some 'za, which is now absolutely the slang for pizza? 5. How far can yo ... More >>

Slay Versus Reed: It's Time to Press the Reset Button

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

An Instagram Homage to Four Loko

Last week, Gut Check reported on the FTC's agreement with Phusion Projects wherein the company who sells the infamous "alcopop" Four Loko will start printing clear warnings on the labels about the amount of alcohol per big ass can. The whole kerfluffle got Gut Check thinking: We know folks love thei ... More >>

Top Eight St. Louis Bar Bathrooms for a Quickie

You're sitting across the table from an attractive paramour, sipping drinks and making small talk. There's a lull in the conversation, your eyes meet. You stare deep into each other's souls, and like knowledge being dropped from the heavens, suddenly you both know. You must have sex as soon as poss ... More >>

At Basso, Nationally Acclaimed Chef Patrick Connolly Pays Homage to St. Louis' Divisive Provel Cheese

Not everyone gets the joke at first, admits Patrick Connolly, the executive chef of Basso (7036 Clayton Avenue; 314-932-7820), the new gastropub inside the renovated Cheshire hotel. The "Emo Cover Band" is just another of the pizzas on the restaurant's menu -- the last one listed, in fact, after the ... More >>

Your Pick for St. Louis' Most Overrated Pizza Is...

Our quest to identify the most overrated pizza in St. Louis resulted in the most votes by far of our Underrated/Overrated polls. It also resulted in a definitive winner (or should that be "winner"?), with the top vote-getter receiving almost twice as many votes as the runner-up. See Also: - Your Pi ... More >>

Photos: Top Most Embarrassing St. Louis Mardi Gras Shots On Social Media

What happens at Mardi Gras...does not stay at Mardi Gras. That is if you post photos on Twitter and Instagram! If you'd like to relive the joy of Saturday's festivities, we recommend you take a look at RFT's very much not-safe-for-work slideshow from Soulard. But just for fun, Daily RFT has also t ... More >>

Judah Friedlander Buys Firebird Crowd Imo's Pizza After Show, Jimmy Kimmel Still Hates It [Update]

On Friday, February 8, comedian Judah Friedlander visited the Firebird (2706 Olive Street; 314-535-0353) to make St. Louis laugh. The self-described "World Champion" did just that for nearly 90 minutes, including an interlude about St. Louis and his love-hate relationship with Imo's Pizza (multiple ... More >>

Missouri Botanical Garden Wants to Know What St. Louis Eats

We all photograph our food these days. Just look at Instagram -- half the images in your newsfeed are bound to depict someone's dinner. Our food choices are inconsequential -- yesterday's lunch means nothing today, lest you be struck down with food poisoning. But what do our food choices say about S ... More >>

The 15 Best Imo's Pizza Photos on Instagram

To the initiated, the square beyond compare is more than a pizza. It's a...it's a muse. Herewith, to get your weekend started on the right note, the fifteen best Imo's shots on Instagram.

Judah Friedlander Talks About Life After 30 Rock and Being the World Champion: Interview Outtakes

In this week's print edition we interviewed Judah Friedlander: standup comedian, "World Champion", and one of the stars of NBC's recently-wrapped sitcom 30 Rock. Friedlander is an exceptionally engaging and approachable interviewee, and as such we were unable to fit our whole conversation into the p ... More >>

Karaoke Songs to Put Your Significant Other In the Mood

Karaoke can be a dangerous endeavor. What can you sing that won't make friends shun you? How can you go balls-out during your next performance? Each week in "Ask a Karaoke Host," RFT Music writer and professional karaoke host Allison Babka answers your burning questions about maximizing your melodio ... More >>

Photos: Dogs Of The Annual Beggin' Pet Parade March In Soulard

It may have snowed a lot Saturday night, but that did not stop the city's dog lovers from dressing their pets, dying their fur, putting on matching outfits and marching in Soulard for the annual Beggin' Pet Parade. Daily RFT stopped by toward the end and overheard one winner say her costume idea w ... More >>

Top 10 Booze Brands From Luxco, St. Louis-Based Maker of Everclear

Gut Check's liver went pitter-pat late last week when we got wind that Luxco, our favoritest local liquor distiller, had added another half-bazillion booze brands to its bulging portfolio of alcoholic beverages we've either: 1) never heard of, or 2) consumed to excess at some point in your twenti ... More >>

Meet Your 2013 RFT Web Awards Judges

"Nothing demonstrates what a critical asshole I am more than judging the RFT Web Awards." -- Anonymous So said one of our esteemed judges during a marathon session this week to determine this year's RFT Web Awards winner and finalists. It's true. Our judges are a discerning bunch for good reason. A ... More >>

Rage Against the Machinima: As YouTube becomes increasingly wealthy, its stars and the networks who contract with them battle for money and creative control

Student Startup Madness: Local Collegians Compete to Be Next Mark Zuckerberg

Many people come up with the dumbest ideas of their lives during college. But, as Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University, observes, some pretty good ideas have come from college students, too: Facebook, FedEx, Dell computers, Google, Reddit, t ... More >>

Jon Jay is Having a Party -- And You Don't Get to Go

Hey, wanna hear something that sounds really awesome? How about bowling with Jon Jay and a bunch of his famous friends? I know, right? Totes awesome, kid! Well, guess what? You probably aren't going to get to bowl with Jon Jay and all his famous friends anytime soon. The reason? Because while J ... More >>

S.S. Coachella: Nail Master Class with Sleigh Bells' Alexis Krauss

Fashion and music are the funniest-looking twin sisters. They're always together, always kinda sloppy. Sometimes they dress up like a swan or wear a big mouse head. Together, they're always looking to make a bold statement. By Liz Tracy If you follow Sleigh Bells' Alexis Krauss on Instagram (@Kra ... More >>

At Pastaria in Clayton, Gerard Craft and crew use their noodles

Slideshow: Pastaria in Clayton Photos

Karlie Kloss and Victoria's Secret Under Fire for "Indian" Runway Lingerie Look

An outfit worn by Webster Groves-native Karlie Kloss in the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Wednesday has the company under fire. Kloss strutted down the runway in a Native American-themed ensemble, featuring a feather headdress with tails down to the floor. She looked super hot in it and ... More >>

Pictures of Damage from Hurricane Sandy or Just Another Day in North St. Louis?

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, an oddly poignant article in the Onion said it well: "Gradually comprehending that this sort of thing is now just a fact of life, citizens all across America stared blankly at images of destroyed homes, major cities paralyzed by flooding, and ravaged communiti ... More >>

Does Spotify Mean the End the iPod and Your Music Collection?

When I bought my first iPod--this was the first iPod, when the scroll wheel actually spun around--it was a severe blow to my nerd-cred, which I guarded pretty jealously at the time. (It was the only cred I had.) Relying on iTunes and its untouchable database to maintain my MP3 collection, instead of ... More >>

In Hotel Transylvania, a comic Dracula still kills

How Violent Idiot Chris Brown Continues to Play the Victim: A Timeline

As a reader of music blogs, you have by no doubt by now heard that violent idiot Chris Brown has done (another) stupid thing by getting a tattoo on his neck that looks suspiciously like a battered woman. Like, you know, the woman he battered in 2009. He claims it's actually a sugar skull -- an icon ... More >>

Eat, Drink and Be Friendly

The Summer of '69

Demond Meek's iPhone Shots of Crumbling STL Get International Attention

Another absorbing entry in the "ruin porn" genre: Professional lens-wielder Demond Meek recently went around his native St. Louis to document architectural decline. He used only his iPhone and uploaded to Instagram. On Friday, the Mail Online -- the most visited website on the entire planet -- ran a ... More >>

MTV Picks Up Late Night Show Starring Kirkwood-born Comic Nikki Glaser

This autumn, Jon Stewart, Chelsea Handler and Conan O'Brien may be getting a lil' STL-flavored competition in their late-night time slot. (If that sounds obscene to you....GOOD). Nikki Glaser -- a 28-year-old Kirkwood native, standup comic and Instagram enthusiast -- will be co-starring in a new wee ... More >>

Yoko Ono's New iPhone App, #smilesfilm, Aims to Capture Every Smile in the World

Yoko Ono's new iPhone app, #smiles film, was released this week and with it comes an opportunity for fans to participate in Ono's latest art project. Yoko Ono famously won John Lennon's heart when he attended one of her art shows and he saw that she was presenting a positive message. Once LennOno b ... More >>

Cheetos Nachos Sold in Texas Convenience Store, Sign Gut Check Up

Last week Gut Check was so enamored with the news that Subway was test marketing Doritos nachos at select locations inside Wal-Mart stores nationwide that we recreated the dish for taste test purposes. The next day a tipster informed us that several Subway restaurants housed in St. Louis Wal-Mart st ... More >>

Mayer Hawthorne and the County at the Firebird, 5/22/12: Review, Photos and Setlist

Mayer Hawthorne and the County | the Stepkids May 22, 2012 The Firebird Mayer Hawthorne is so smooth. His pitch-perfect pipes slide from fragile falsetto to deep, soul-filled croon; his style and swagger resemble a mix of Buddy Holly and Andre 3000. Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, less than 50 miles f ... More >>

Mind Your Fucking iPhones

For as long as tattooed cool kids have piled onto stages and jammed their little hearts out, there have been jerks in the crowd spewing bad vibes and threatening to ruin everyone's night. Whether it's the grown man who throws elbows at teenagers to get to the front, the drunk couple who's dry-humpin ... More >>

Philip Glass Makes You Look Old

The classical music of 75-year-old Philip Glass occupies an unlikely place in pop culture. It still attracts the same age group it did when the composer first performed his minimalist works more than 40 years ago. This audience is ever present for the renowned artist's recent performance at the Ka ... More >>

Instant Pop Art

iPhoneography

Point and Clique: The 2012 RFT St. Louis Web Awards

Vetiver and Fruit Bats At Off Broadway, 9/19/11: Review and Setlists

Roy KastenVetiver at Off Broadway​Fruit Bats | Vetiver Off Broadway September 19, 2011 Most shows don't change your life; most don't even even rack up a couple of Instagrams on Twitter. Most are bands doing what they're paid to do and giving people what they paid to hear. The exchange can sti ... More >>